film

Almost two decades after publishing his last Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, elusive cartoonist Bill Watterson is back — with a film poster. The documentary, Stripped, is a self-described "love letter to comic strips" that includes interviews with, among others, Jeff Keane of Family Circus, Richard Thompson of Cul de Sac and Watterson himself.

If you’re walking outside this weekend in Woodinville, Wash., that’s not just birdsong coming from the trees.

Bear Creek Studio was featured on an episode of Animal Planet’s show Treehouse Masters. The crew from the reality show built a recording space for the music studio 18 feet up in the cedar trees.

The episode airs Friday at 10 p.m. and has brought in a couple of musical guests. CeeLo Green drops in to play and is joined by the treehouse’s Fall City designer Pete Nelson, who takes a turn at the microphone – for better or worse.

Shirley Temple, who charmed the nation as a child movie star in the 1930s and went on to become one of the nation's diplomats in posts that included ambassador to Czechoslovakia during the Cold War, has died.

She was 85.

The Associated Press writes that publicist Cheryl Kagan says the actress, known as Shirley Temple Black in her private life, died late Monday evening at her home near San Francisco. Kagan tells the AP that Temple's family and caregivers were with her.

One of the most popular characters in literature, stage, film and television started with a struggling doctor trying to put food on the table.

In 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, selling stories to magazines and papers as a side profession, introduced a detective and doctor duo in “The Mystery of Uncle Jeremy’s Household” – a prototype that would later become the ubiquitous Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in “A Study in Scarlet” and an entire canon that followed.

David Hyde talks with Robert Thompson, Director of the Bleier Center for Television & Popular Culture Trustee at Syracuse University about racial diversity on television. From The Cosby Show to In Living Color to Scandal, for the last three decades shows starring and produced by African-Americans have been huge hits; but primetime television still remains mostly white.

Scarecrow Video, Seattle’s largest video rental store, has an animation room. It has French comedies from the 1960s that aren’t even available in France. It has rows of films listed by obscure directors and the entire DVD box set of thirtysomething (which, upon reflection, perhaps it shouldn’t).

Just in time for "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug," part two of director Peter Jackson's movie trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's book, Google Chrome and Warner Bros. have launched an interactive "journey through Middle-Earth."

12 Years a Slave is the most compelling film about music to be released this year, maybe this century. It's so many other things, too, as others have noted: a corrective to the weird cocktail of piety and cartoonishness that Hollywood usually supplies when depicting slavery; a gorgeous art film and an actor's hellish paradise; a cultural highlight of the Obama administration.

You know that "Singles" and "Sleepless in Seattle" were shot in Seattle, but what about Cameron Crowe’s "Say Anything"? Or "Humpday" and "It Happened at the World’s Fair," starring Elvis (in Technicolor)?

Back in the early seventies, Elliott Gould liked to wear one pink Converse gym shoe and one blue Converse gym shoe. It’s the kind of goofy and surprising choice a character played by Gould might make. Gould is an American actor whose work defines a naturalistic approach to film acting.

He starred in the TV show MASH and movie "The Long Goodbye," and he's a member of the fabled five-timers club of guest hosts on Saturday Night Live. Gould spoke with The Record's Steve Scher.

If you’re pondering what to do this weekend consider the shining reviews coming in for the movie "Gravity" with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Here’s Seattle film writer David Chen with his take on "Gravity."

From "Happy Days" to "That '70s Show," TV writers love to tap into viewer nostalgia. This week ABC premieres "The Goldbergs" about a middle-class family living "in a simpler time called the '80s."

But Princeton University history professor Julian Zelizer says that suburban America during the Reagan years was anything but simple. He talks with David Hyde about the political changes that took place outside the home and continue to shape us today.

Even in the age of Hulu, Netflix and movies on your phone, fall still means new shows on television. IMDb TV editor Melanie McFarland recommends three new shows in the fall schedule worth checking out.

Sandy Osawa is a local filmmaker and a member of the Makah Tribe. She and her husband, Yasu Osawa, have been creating documentaries for four decades. They have produced more than 65 videos, including five PBS documentaries. But for the Osawas, this is not a business. It's a battle. They use film to fight society's images of American Indian people.

Seattle cinephiles have known about director Lynn Shelton for years, starting with her 2004 film, "We Go Way Back" to her 2009 hit, "Humpday." Shelton's newest film, "Touchy Feely" is, at its heart, a story about love. And "Touchy Feely" is once again deeply entrenched in Shelton's home the Northwest. Marcie Sillman talks with the filmmaker about her latest project.

This hour on The Conversation, we leave radio for the big screen to talk to some of our favorite filmmakers. Grab some overpriced popcorn and candy and listen to interviews with the late Nora Ephron, director Guillermo del Toro, director Paul Verhoeven and film historian David Thompson.

George Michael “Micky” Dolenz, Jr., is best known for his role in the television sitcom, “The Monkees.” He became the drummer and a lead vocalist for the band created for the show. But Micky Dolenz spent much of his life in the show biz. Back in 1993, Steve Scher talked with Micky Dolenz about his path to music and the many other projects Micky worked on over the years.

Annie Leibovitz On The Stories Behind Her Photos

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10:00

Annie Leibovitz began taking photographs for Rolling Stone in 1970. By 1973, she was its chief photographer. In addition to magazine editorial work, Leibovitz has created successful advertising campaigns for American Express, Gap and the Milk Board, among others. Exhibitions of her work have appeared in museums and galleries all over the world. What are the stories behind Annie Leibovitz's iconic photos? Steve Scher talked with Annie Leibovitz in 2008 about what it’s like to photograph queens, presidents and the like.

Taylor Branch On Martin Luther King

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18:32

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Taylor Branch has written a three-volume history of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, “America In The King Years.” Steve Scher talked with Taylor Branch in 2006 about King’s legacy, democracy and nonviolence.

Isabella Rossellini became famous for high-fashion modeling and for her acting roles in over 60 films and television shows. But she also makes films about sex. Specifically, the sex lives of animals. From the elephant seal to the little anchovy — all erotic encounters are on the table. Isabella Rossellini joined us back in 2009.

Sir Ken Robinson On Creativity

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15:30

"All children are born artists. The problem is to remain artists as we grow up," says Sir Ken Robinson, an international expert on creativity. School, he says, encourages us to become good workers, not creative thinkers. So how do we fix it? Marcie Sillman talked with Sir Robinson in 2009 about his book, "The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything," and the challenges of teaching creativity.

A Conversation With "Game Of Thrones" Author George R.R. Martin

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13:01

With HBO's "Game of Thrones," George R.R. Martin's world of Westeros is seducing TV viewers much as it captured readers. Martin began writing science fiction stories in the 1970s, and early on his stories were nominated for awards. Raised in a housing project in New Jersey, he used to write monster tales for the neighborhood kids. Steve Scher talked with George Martin in 2012.